Steve Schmidt: Donald Trump 'emasculating' Jeb Bush

Donald Trump is "emasculating" former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with his attacks and his performance in state and national polling, prominent Republican strategist Steve Schmidt said Monday.

"Look, Jeb Bush was a very successful governor, he's a thoughtful man, he was a good, conservative governor. But every day, Donald Trump is emasculating Jeb Bush, and Republican primary voters are not going to default to the establishment candidate who is being weakened by these attacks that go unresponded to."

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Trump has regularly mocked Bush for being a "low-energy person" but still a "nice guy," while the former governor has responded by criticizing Trump's immigration plan as unrealistic and insufficiently conservative.

Both Bush and Trump have used the derogatory term "anchor babies" to refer to the American-born children of immigrants who came to the United States illegally, though Bushonce chaireda conservative Hispanic group that told Republicans not to use the term, a fact that hasdelighted Trump. Bush was not directly involved in, nor was he aware of, the 2013 memo containing that guidance at the time it was written, Bush's campaign has said.

Breaking down the results of the latest Iowa polling on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Schmidt remarked upon the strong performance of candidates without prior experience in public office.

"When you add it all up, 54 percent for the non-establishment candidates, and you look at the establishment candidates who are running there right now, and I think their whole conception of the race is off," he added. "Their whole sense of the mood of the country is off."